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I haven't managed to get on the Vine for many months. The build up to Christmas is just madness at the craft fairs, running a fair every weekend and making the stock midweek hasn't left a lot of free time. And then there are the festivities at home to contend with - still allover for another 5 minutes now.
Have I missed major excitements? Someone please give me a quick run down if possible. Very lazy of me not to read through all the posts, I know...sorry!
My girlies are doing well, but they have caused me to worry a fair bit. We had weeks of broodiness, almost as if it was contagious, from the end of October. Hattie laid a huge clutch of 15 blue eggs behind our massive conifer trunk, she was most indignant when I removed them (all still edible thank goodness) and only laid a few more eggs after that, before giving up for the Winter. She has also been the one the moult took the most out of, taking longest to re-feather and dropping bodyweight drastically.
Apart from Daisy Marsh-Daisy and Morag Scots-Dumpy, the others all followed suit and the garden looked like the fall out from an explosion at a duvet factory for weeks. In the midst of this, Daisy laid her first egg. Morag stopped laying the week before Christmas, and now it's really, really cold, I fully expect her to moult. Out of six girlies, we're down to two eggs a day which isn't too bad.
We've had some snow, but it didn't settle. When it first snowed, the girls all dashed out of the henhouse and started eating it as it fell, which was hilarious. The garden has either been a skating rink or a huge brown mud bog, neither of which the girls like very much. I've had concerns about red looking feet. I've caught each of the chooks and there's no scale problems, just redness. Feetses were washed, dried thoroughly and coated in vaseline for a little protection. Is there anything else I can do for feetses?
The girls have hot couscous & poultry spice every morning. They like to eat it boiling hot, I was amazed at that. I also add three Omega 3 capsules to the couscous when making it up and I'm sure the moultees have benefitted from this. It's also an excellent way to worm them with the ol' Flubenvet.
I have been contemplating getting two more chooks.......or, I was until my six turned the garden into a wasteland. Next Spring we're returfing with meadow turf, no more namby-pamby lawn stuff chez Apple. Also, a new chook-house is on the cards, so there would be a little more space.......if I thought the garden (use that word lightly) could take it.
Freya the Kestrel is still on the loose, but reports say that she is doing well in the awful cold so far. We now have Jack, a young male Harris Hawk, who arrived the Sunday before Christmas. I shall reserve judgement on him at present as I don't know him like I knew Freya.
Look forward to hearing all the news!
Jules
Have I missed major excitements? Someone please give me a quick run down if possible. Very lazy of me not to read through all the posts, I know...sorry!
My girlies are doing well, but they have caused me to worry a fair bit. We had weeks of broodiness, almost as if it was contagious, from the end of October. Hattie laid a huge clutch of 15 blue eggs behind our massive conifer trunk, she was most indignant when I removed them (all still edible thank goodness) and only laid a few more eggs after that, before giving up for the Winter. She has also been the one the moult took the most out of, taking longest to re-feather and dropping bodyweight drastically.
Apart from Daisy Marsh-Daisy and Morag Scots-Dumpy, the others all followed suit and the garden looked like the fall out from an explosion at a duvet factory for weeks. In the midst of this, Daisy laid her first egg. Morag stopped laying the week before Christmas, and now it's really, really cold, I fully expect her to moult. Out of six girlies, we're down to two eggs a day which isn't too bad.
We've had some snow, but it didn't settle. When it first snowed, the girls all dashed out of the henhouse and started eating it as it fell, which was hilarious. The garden has either been a skating rink or a huge brown mud bog, neither of which the girls like very much. I've had concerns about red looking feet. I've caught each of the chooks and there's no scale problems, just redness. Feetses were washed, dried thoroughly and coated in vaseline for a little protection. Is there anything else I can do for feetses?
The girls have hot couscous & poultry spice every morning. They like to eat it boiling hot, I was amazed at that. I also add three Omega 3 capsules to the couscous when making it up and I'm sure the moultees have benefitted from this. It's also an excellent way to worm them with the ol' Flubenvet.
I have been contemplating getting two more chooks.......or, I was until my six turned the garden into a wasteland. Next Spring we're returfing with meadow turf, no more namby-pamby lawn stuff chez Apple. Also, a new chook-house is on the cards, so there would be a little more space.......if I thought the garden (use that word lightly) could take it.
Freya the Kestrel is still on the loose, but reports say that she is doing well in the awful cold so far. We now have Jack, a young male Harris Hawk, who arrived the Sunday before Christmas. I shall reserve judgement on him at present as I don't know him like I knew Freya.
Look forward to hearing all the news!
Jules
Part of my runs are like swamps and without the pecrhes the chooks would have trench foot!
)
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